When Jamie Pinkerton was selected to begin the Montana softball program from the ground up, one of his first tasks as the Grizzlies’ head coach was to hire Melanie Meuchel as his assistant coach.
A Missoula, MT native and formerly a longtime assistant coach at Nevada, no one predicted that just four years later, Meuchel would herself be the Griz head coach. After Pinkerton accepted the head coaching position at Iowa State, Meuchel was officially named the full-time head coach in October.
“You know, it was just one of those things,” Meuchel said. “I’ve always felt very comfortable being an assistant coach and knowing my role in that position… the Iowa State position opened and I don’t think anyone thought it would move that fast, even Jamie. I’ve always been in the mindset of ‘be the best assistant, be good support’. I knew this was home and I wasn’t looking to go anywhere else…. once we got through our camp the next week, that was really when my mind could settle in and I was like ‘yes’; this was something that I wanted to pursue.”
The Grizzlies reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2017, and will look to build upon that success going into the 2018 season.
“I’ve been here from the beginning and we have a core that has been here; we had a large freshman class our first year and only one senior last year…. they were able to bring out their competitive spirits and, when they were presented with challenges, they really stepped into those challenges and wanted to prove to themselves and everyone else that, even though we are still a new program, they are good players and we are a good team… I think winning the Big Sky tournament was a huge reward for all of the work that everyone put in.
”We have a fairly veteran team right now,” Meuchel told us about her team’s gameplan for the coming year. “We are missing a couple of people in the middle of our lineup because of graduation and transfers, but we are looking for our team as a whole to step up and fulfill some numbers. We are trying to be on base as much as possible; we’re looking for quality at-bats. Knowing ourselves at the plate and understanding our strengths, just as an overall nine in the lineup, will really mean something for us… we have some freshmen who have the ability to step into some roles offensively for us. Another year of experience for a couple of hitters has really helped them, too.”
On her team’s pitching staff, Meuchel said she is looking for stability, among other qualities, for her hurlers in the circle: “I’d like to see another year of maturity and understanding of the pitching aspect, not just being up there throwing,” Meuchel said. “We are a veteran pitching staff, and our returners have a lot of experience at the collegiate level. Look to have them prepared and ready and to be consistent when they’re called upon.”
As she embarks on her first season as the Griz head coach, Meuchel knows what she expects from her squad. “People are always looking at that date in May; but you are putting in a lot of time over the course of the season. I think as you go, you want to find the growth of your team overall and to progress each and every weekend that you compete… we are always talking championships, but you have to have a mindset of being present in each series and to try to win the series; to win the day that’s in front of us.”
Meuchel and the Griz kick off the 2018 season on February 8 against Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona.
